Name: Rage rooms.
Appearance: Full of old equipment and angry women.
Wait, rage rooms aren't new, are they? No, the idea of charging people to safely destroy things as a form of commercial catharsis reportedly originated in Japan in 2008, around the same time Chicago entrepreneur Donna Alexander started charging people $5 to break things in her garage. But it really went global in 2015 and 2016.
Oh yes Brexit vote, first Trump administration – evil times. Makes sense. So what's new? They are thriving again, especially among women. The Times reports that bookings at Virgin's Ultimate Xtreme Rage Room are up 219%. The number of visitors to the Activity Dome in Weston-super-Mare has increased by 150%, and 90% of them are women.
It's funny, I never imagined Weston-super-Mare to be a particularly evil place. Oh, it's boiling. And the local rage room is “a very popular emotional space for women who want to relieve stress from work, relationships and childcare,” according to manager Tyler Austin.
Not to mention the annoyance when your name is called. “ladies” I guess be grateful they weren't “sassy ladies.”
So what brings women to rage rooms? Are we getting angrier? Yes, in 2022 BBC analysis Gallup polling data from around the world showed that anger levels among women had risen over the previous decade. In 2017 (when #MeToo became mainstream) they began to diverge from men, and by 2021 the gender gap in anger was 6%. Women take over disproportionate burden of care It definitely didn’t help during the pandemic.
Nor has there been a recent rollback of reproductive rights in USA, I think. Or the fact that women in the UK have been working for free since last Saturday thanks to gender pay gap. And of course, ole”grab them by the pussyreturned to the White House and called female reporter “pig”. Men also sneeze loudly and forcefully.
Yes! What is this about?! This is probably also an “emotional outlet.”
But what if you don't feel like breaking things? Sounds very energetic. Women are exhausted, what's wrong mental loadworrying about sexual violence and wondering if their faces are so offensive to the male gaze, they need deep face lift. How about scream? Scream clubswhere you meet in public to say it all is all the rage right now.
Are there quieter options? Dr. Jennifer Cox, who wrote book about women's angerinvolves screaming underwater, hitting a stack of coats with a wooden spoon, “throwing ice cubes on the patio or slapping a wet flannel into the sink.” But wouldn't it be incredibly easy to break something?
I'd go into a rage room with wall to wall printers. They are the only thing worse than patriarchy. Well, Johannes Gutenberg was man.
Tell: “Women need a safe and satisfying outlet for their anger, dear…”
Don't say: “…so I smashed your Tesla with your golf clubs.”
